I’m expecting her to let my hand go, but she doesn’t, and it could be that she’s in shock. He’s there at the fair with a woman standing next to him, holding his hand. That isn’t what gets us, though. What shocks us, or maybe just me, is the little bump that the lady is definitely carrying. “Oh my god,” I mumble, trying to turn us the other way. Instead, we come face-to-face with them, and I know that eyes are on us. I take one look around to see that, but it also takes me that one look around to see my family closes in on us—Mom and Beau to the left, Casey and Olivia to the right. Standing right behind Drew and his girl are my father and Kallie. All my sisters and brothers are lingering close by, too.
“Well,” Drew says, smiling, and I want nothing more than to throat punch him. “Fancy meeting you guys here.”
“Fancy, my ass,” I say, laughing. “You knew she was going to be here.”
He looks at our joined hands. “Wow, that didn’t take you long,” he says, bitterly pointing at our hands.
“You can’t be serious right now,” Emily hisses, and I look over at the girl. She’s the total opposite of Emily. Her hair is bleached blond. Her fake eyelashes are on so thick I can’t even see her eyes. She wears a tight one-piece skirt with a flannel shirt tied under her belly.
“It’s a great turnout.” Drew ignores my question and then turns to his girl. “Baby,” he says, “this is Emily and Ethan.” The girl has no idea who we are, and I have to shake my head. “Guys, this is Mandie.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” She smiles at us and then looks at him.
“It’s good to put a face to the voice,” Emily says from beside me, and Mandie looks confused. “How long have you guys been together?” she asks her.
Mandie is quick to answer. “Almost eighteen months.”
At the same time, Drew says, “A couple of weeks.”
“Eighteen months!” Emily shouts out a bit too loud, and whoever wasn’t looking at this scene unfold is now looking. “Wow, definitely dodged that bullet.” She laughs and turns to me, then looks back and sees Mandie all confused.
“We were engaged,” she tells her. “Broke it off when he pocket dialed me banging you in the car.” I roll my lips when I see Drew turn red, and Mandie puts her hand on her stomach. “Well, if you’ll excuse us.” She looks up at me. “I’m in the mood for a funnel cake.”
I smile at her, being so brave and not letting this get to her. Knowing that everyone is watching, she is powering through. “Let’s go get you a funnel cake,” I say and then look at Drew and Mandie. “Congratulations on the baby.” I turn and walk away from them, and when I look over at her, she’s smiling. “Are you okay?” I ask almost in a whisper.
“I’m shocked,” she says honestly, then stops and looks at me. The noise of people talking is all around us. “I’m not going to lie. Fuck eighteen months.” She shakes her head. “He’s having a baby with someone. How was that going to work?”
“I have no idea,” I say, and she looks down and then up again. “We can go if you want.”
“Um, I want a funnel cake,” she says. “Then I want to ride the Ferris wheel.” She steps in a touch closer. “Where we can make out like we did the first time.” I smile at her, and she looks around. “Then you are going to win me a bear because that is what I want, and after that, I’m going home, and I’m going to unwrap my fifth birthday gift.” She winks at me.
“Sunrise,” I say. “I didn’t get you anything for your fifth birthday gift. I was going to …” I start to say, but she puts her finger over my mouth to stop me from talking.
She gets on her tippy toes. “You’re my present.” She tilts her head just a bit. “Now, give me a kiss and get me a funnel cake.” I don’t wait a second more before I push her hair away from her face and kiss her, letting everyone know I’m back, and she’s mine.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Emily
He kisses me, and I don’t even care. When he left the house, it hurt that I hurt him. I didn’t want him to ever feel like he didn’t mean anything to me or that we didn’t matter, so walking the carnival without him felt wrong. I kept looking for him, and finally when I saw him, I knew that I didn’t care what anyone said. All I knew is that I wanted him beside me.
I called him over, not thinking anything, and when I saw Drew with his girlfriend, who was pregnant, I waited for the hurt to hit me. I waited for my chest to feel tight, and the tears to come, but none of that happened, and I finally admitted to myself that I never really loved him like that. I walked away, holding Ethan’s hand, and I knew that the next step would be mine to make. I knew he was waiting for the green light, and it was time. I wanted all of him. I wanted to give him all of me.
“You taste like sugar,” he says softly against my lips. “You had a funnel cake already.”
“I did,” I admit. “But I wanted another one, and I wanted it with you.”
“I love you,” he says to me and turns to order me a funnel cake. Handing it to me, he grabs some napkins. We walk away and come face-to-face with most of his
